Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Before I get to the obvious, let me just say this: Floyd embodies what is wrong with college basketball. Remember the "5-8 rule"? The rule that stated a coach could not award more than five scholarships in one season and no more than eight in two seasons? Well, that rule was commonly known as the "Tim Floyd rule" in coaching circles.

Tim Floyd was hired by UTEP today.(photo credit: ESPN)

How did Floyd earn that distinction?By over-recruiting. During his four year run at Iowa State that saw the Cyclones win 20 games for three straight seasons and reach the tournament three years in a row, Floyd constantly recruited over players he had already given a scholarship too. He would then run off the excess recruits before the school year began.

He has the player's best interests in mind. Right.

Then there is the whole USC fiasco. I think we are all well aware of the OJ Mayo situation that USC is currently dealing with. Floyd allegedly gave an envelope full of cash to OJ Mayo's handler -- Ronald Guillory -- while Mayo was playing for USC. Guillory is about as unsavory a character as you are going to find in the college basketball world. He got Fresno State's Tito Maddox and USC's Jeff Trepangier in trouble in 2000 for receiving extra benefits. He was the mystery man that showed up in Floyd's office when the Trojans were recruiting Mayo.

Floyd resigned from USC last summer as a result of these allegations. Both Floyd and USC are still awaiting their punishment from the NCAA for those violations.

And this is the guy that UTEP hired.

Remember what happened last time a program hired a coach still under investigation by the NCAA? I think Indiana fans do. Kelvin Sampson got in trouble at Oklahoma for making illegal phone calls to recruits. He then did the same thing at Indiana. The Hoosier's program still hasn't recovered from that.

I don't know Tim Floyd. As far as I know, he could be a changed man. I don't think that there is any debate that the guy can coach, either. He turned around both Iowa State and USC during his tenure at each school.

But at what cost?

USC was on the brink of becoming one of the great stories of the '09-'10 season before they withdrew from all postseason consideration as a result of Floyd's conduct.

There's no proof OJ killed anyone, but would you let him date your sister or daughter?

Drastic comparison, I know. And yes, I'm very cynical, especially when dealing with this sport. At this point, I'm almost to the point that I assume every coach is cheating in someway, and the ones that get in trouble are just the ones dumb enough to get caught.

ShareThis

Contact BIAH

Got a article we need to read? Want to advertise with us? Have a youtube video we need to see? Think we're morons? Let us know! Send an email to ContactBIAH@gmail.com or hit us up on twitter @RobDauster, @TroyMachir or @BallinisaHabit